Outwales

The outwales were put onto the boat in a similar manner. The wood was primed and then coated in thickened epoxy after a couple of hours. Starting at the bow the gunwale was clamped to the boat and screwed into position using 4x35 stainless steel screws every 20cm.

Clamps were left in position for 36 hours approx and removed so that the epoxy could be cleaned up. All preparations, glueing and scraping took about 8 hours, same as for the inwales. The hull was then shaved down to the level of the gunwale and the sharp corners of the gunwales rounded off slightly.

Inwales

This work was originally done last August. The inwales are 15x35 Douglas Fir. First the hull and inwale were soaked in neat epoxy for a few hours and they were then brought together with clamps working from the bow backwards. The glue is inclined to start dripping on the floor and it is useful is you have someone to hold up the inwale at the other end. I didn't (her mother wouldn't let her go near the epoxy) so I just balanced it on the open door of a cupboard beside the boat. The inwales were held fast to the boat using 4x18 countersunk stainless steel screws. probably they are not needed - the epoxy is good enough to hold the wood - but I left them there after the epoxy cured anyway.

You need a lot of clamps for this job. They can come off after 24 - 36 hours depending on the curing temperature. There is a lot of cleaning up to be done as well as the epoxy drips down while you are clamping. Most of it ends up in the bin. After it has cured and you have removed the clamps you can tidy up the rest with a heat gun or a sharp blade. For the Stornoway 12 the inwales on both sides took me about 8 hours.